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Prince William County Sheriff's Office entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Prince William County Sheriff's Office starts at $66,596 a year — about $32.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $1,794 below the median of the 1,681 agencies on this list, and $1,221 above the median for county agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV run about 9% above the national average, so this is worth roughly $61,162 somewhere at average prices — $5,434 less than the headline figure. Most of that is rent, at 151 against a national average of 100, where goods are 105. Based on price levels for this metropolitan area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isPrince William County Sheriff's Office reported 656 sworn officers and 182 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025.No rate is shown: this agency does not police a single population the FBI publishes a figure for. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Prince William County says about itself
The Prince William County Sheriff's Office, in partnership with elected leaders, staff and citizens, provides a safe and secure Judicial Complex. Other mandates include service of all civil process, including subpoenas, levies, seizures, and evictions; internal affairs; training; and timely transport for prisoners and person in crisis.
What Prince William County does
Prince William County Sheriff's Office was established in 1731 and was the county's sole law enforcement agency until 1970, when the newly formed county police department took over patrol and investigations. It is now a constitutional office elected by Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and serves those two cities and the towns of Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and Haymarket alongside the county. Its work is the judicial side of policing: securing the Judicial Complex through a Court Security Division, serving approximately 90,000 civil papers a year — court-ordered levies, writs of possession, protective orders, eviction notices and delinquent tax warrants — and transporting prisoners to and from the Judicial Center as well as people under court order for emotional assessment. It also handles fugitive tracking and apprehension.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 8 August 2026. Prince William County official GovernmentJobs posting — Sheriff's Deputy — open the source document
Current official posting verified 8 August 2026; hiring salary $66,595.87; applicants without current Virginia law-enforcement certification are paid while attending the academy; signing bonus and other incentives excluded
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
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How this level compares
Where Prince William County sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $35,006 | $71,287 | $163,619 | 1046 |
| County | $36,492 | $65,374 | $132,263 | 416 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,195 | $107,954 | 69 |
| State | $33,994 | $64,998 | $102,692 | 143 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $2,200 more than the middle municipal agency and about $8,100 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,500 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Prince William County starts at $66,596, so $1,222 above the county middle.
How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Prince William County Sheriff's Office officer make?
Prince William County Sheriff's Office starts a new officer on $66,596 a year, about $32.02 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from Prince William County official GovernmentJobs posting — Sheriff's Deputy.
Is that good pay for a police officer in Virginia?
It ranks #8 of 36 agencies we have verified in Virginia — 28 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #941 of 1,681 nationally. Against the national median it is $1,794 below, and against other county agencies $1,221 above.
Compare with another department
Put Prince William County Sheriff's Office side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in VA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Prince | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arlington County Police Department | County | 299 | $90,012 | +$23,416 | #215 |
| 2 | Falls Church Police Department | Municipal | 32 | $76,400 | +$9,804 | #496 |
| 3 | Alexandria Police Department | Municipal | 264 | $75,000 | +$8,404 | #560 |
| 4 | Fairfax County Police Department | County | 1,390 | $74,035 | +$7,439 | #593 |
| 5 | Prince William County Police Department | County | 656 | $74,000 | +$7,404 | #595 |
| 6 | Loudoun County Sheriff's Office | County | 648 | $70,955 | +$4,359 | #727 |
| 7 | Leesburg Police Department | Municipal | 74 | $68,500 | +$1,904 | #834 |
| 9 | Henrico County Police Division | County | 628 | $65,959 | −$637 | #968 |
| 10 | Fairfax County Sheriff's Office | County | 433 | $64,997 | −$1,599 | #1,025 |
| 11 | Richmond Police Department | Municipal | 608 | $63,360 | −$3,236 | #1,091 |
| 12 | Hanover County Sheriff's Office | County | 247 | $63,345 | −$3,251 | #1,093 |
| 13 | Chesterfield County Police Department | County | 499 | $62,751 | −$3,845 | #1,118 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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